Top recruit forced to leave DePaul for health reasons

Freshman guard Shane Larkin, son of Barry, will return home to Orlando

August 05, 2011|By Shannon Ryan, Chicago Tribune reporter

Freshman guard Shane Larkin wrestled with the decision about whether to stay at DePaul, but health issues have caused the Blue Demons' most anticipated recruit in recent years to leave the program.

"It's a condition that affects him but affects family," his father, retired baseball great Barry Larkin, said in a phone interview Thursday. "To see him being torn apart about things that were supposed to be positive, it sucks.

"He felt like he let the city of Chicago down. He felt he let (DePaul coach) Oliver Purnell down. He feels terrible about it. But he did what he had to do."

Barry Larkin declined to discuss the nature of his son's illness but did say he had the problem before arriving at DePaul. The condition requires Shane to return to his native Orlando, Fla.

"Every time you see your son going through something like this, it is difficult," Barry Larkin said. "It's been a trying time for him and family. You want everything to be OK for your kid."

He said he did not know whether his son would attempt to transfer to another program.

Shane Larkin was expected to be a signature piece of DePaul's rebuilding project. ESPN Scouts Inc. ranked him as the No. 98 player in the Class of 2011 and No. 20 point guard. He was to join a freshman class that includes Macari Brooks (Matteson, Ill.), Montray Clemons (Baltimore), Jamee Crockett (Crete-Monee), Charles McKinney (Evanston) and Derrell Robertson Jr. (Pinola, Miss.).

"I'm disappointed he's not going to be here, and we're concerned about Shane's well-being," Purnell said in a statement. "I support his decision."

•Eric Katenda, a 6-foot-9 Notre Dame signee whose career was already delayed by NCAA Clearinghouse red tape, was blinded permanently in his left eye during a pickup game last month, putting his playing career in doubt.

Katenda suffered the injury at a park in Washington, D.C., where he was taking two summer-school courses in hopes of getting the green light from the NCAA Clearinghouse. Irish coach Mike Brey said a build-up of blood behind the eye led to a severed optical nerve, for which there is no surgical fix.

"He's coming down with a rebound and the guy came up and was going for the ball and got him on an angle," said Brey, who said Notre Dame would honor Katenda's scholarship even if he can't play.